Landlords and Tenants are both affected by the implementation of new legislation called the “Renting Homes Wales Act 2016” which will be coming into force on 1st December 2022.
The Housing Act 1985 and The Housing Act 1988 will be replaced in Wales by the Renting Homes Wales Act. These changes will not be relevant to tenancies in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
There are several changes that both landlords and tenants should be aware of:
- “Tenancy Agreements” will now be known as “Occupation Contracts”. Importantly, there will be a significant change to the existing rules as there is an obligation to have one of these written contracts.
- The current tenancy agreements must be converted to the new occupation contracts within 6 months from 1st December 2022 and Landlords will need to provide written statements explaining the requirements set out in the regulations.
- Section 21 Notices to evict the tenant will be replaced by several Sections of the new act and the notice period will in most cases increase to 6 months.
Landlords must:
- Be compliant with the Energy Performance Certificate Regulations on the property.
- Be complaint with deposit requirement (Deposit Protection Schemes and prescribing information to your tenant)
- Not hold any prohibited fees.
- Have working smoke alarms and Carbon Monoxide alarms which must be connected to main power and not battery powered.
- Be compliant with Electrical Installation Condition Reports on the property.
- Be compliant with a Gas Safety Certificate.
There remains a similar mechanism to the current Section 8 Notice should there be significant rent arrears.
BOTH parties can now be liable for “Breach of Contract” and claims can be brought for a variety of reasons.
In some cases, failure to adhere to the new regulations can mean that you are prevented from collecting rent until the breach has been remedied.
If you would like to discuss your rights or obligations under the Act, please contact one of our offices to book a fixed fee consultation.
